With the disaster that happened with Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE) browser, because of the zero-day bug, Microsoft has been left with very few options for damage control.

Until they can come up with an actual fix, most, if not all tech guys and security agencies, recommend that ?everyone? should not use IE until a fix has been implemented by Microsoft.

Of course, not everyone can just stop using IE, as some companies have intranets that utilize the IE browser. Many individual users also use vital software that is dependent on Internet Explorer.

So what can be done until a fix is made? Microsoft has provided some ?workarounds? on how to fight the zero-day bug until a patch is created to plug the problem in Internet Explorer. The workarounds are actually 2 temporary fixes that users can implement to protect themselves from the bug.

The Security Advisory 2963983 from Microsoft outlines the zero-day threat that has affected all IE versions. The zero-day flaw permits ?limited, targeted attacks? by allowing remote code executions, according to Microsoft. So far, Microsoft said that only versions 9, 10 and 11 of IE have been affected. (For the full advisory, see the link at the end of this article).

Here is what IE users can do according to Microsoft:

1. For those running IE version 10 or 11, turn on the Enhanced Protected Mode (EPM) feature. EPM provides an additional protection layer that can help prevent malware attacks to your computer’s system.

c) Go through the Options by scrolling down until you find the Security section.

d) Look for the Enable Enhanced Protection Mode option and click on the checkbox to enable it.

e)?If you are running Internet Explorer 11 in the Windows 64 bit version, you also have to click on the checkbox that says Enable 64-bit processes for Enhanced Protection Mode.

f) Restart your Internet Explorer to enable the new settings.

The Enhanced Protection Mode feature has its limitations. It is only supported in IE 10 and 11, as well as the 64-bit Windows version. Also, a number of sites and tools do not work if EPM is enabled.

If you are using an older version of Internet Explorer, or if the site you need does not function well with EPM enabled, here is the other temporary fix:

2. Unregister an associated file called VGX.DLL (This is an IE DLL file). To do this, we suggest you get it straight from Microsoft’s Suggested Actions section, in the advisory. (Please see link below for the Security Advisory and Suggested Actions page.

If you cannot survive with ?Google Chrome or Firefox until Microsoft patches up this bug, it would be best to heed their advice and follow these instructions.

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